1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a process for production of inositol and novel producer microorganisms useful for said process.
2. Related Art
As process for the production of inositol, so far, a process wherein inositol is extracted from rice bran or corn steep liquor (E.P. No. 506289, 1992) (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-56142) and a process wherein Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is cultured and inositol is recovered from the culture (E.P. No. 506289, 1992) are known.
However the extraction method is disadvantageous in that rice bran and corn steep liquor contain a large amount of various impurities, and therefore, purification of inositol from an extract from the rice bran or corn steep liquor is difficult and expensive. On the other hand, in the process wherein Baker's yeast is cultured, productivity is low and therefore this process is also expensive, and an industrial process using Baker's yeast has not yet been developed. So far, microorganisms, other than Baker's yeast, which extracellularly secrete inositol are not known.